Fujin didn't bother thinking about Danzo anymore and focused on his training again.
After four gruelling hours of relentless training, Fujin's body felt like it had been pushed beyond its limit several times. His muscles burned with a searing intensity, and every breath he took was a laborious effort.
With a deep, ragged exhale, he finally released the tight control he had maintained over his body. He collapsed backwards onto the training ground, his back making contact with the earth.
Drops of sweat glistened on his forehead before trickling down, mingling with the earth below. His chest heaved as he lay there, staring up at the sky. He muttered, "Finally done! What a fucking crazy training plan! And I have to put my body through this hell on a daily basis…"
Fujin closed his eyes and kept lying there, recovering both body and spirit. After around 5 minutes, Fujin finally got up. He stretched his sore muscles while thinking, 'No wonder the Eight Inner Gates isn't popular. Only a maniac can put his body through this hell for years.
Still, there is no doubt that this will be very beneficial for me. I should have gone to Guy right when Renjiro's training plan began losing effect. I should also make a new Training Seal. I will be comfortable with the maximum limit of this seal in less than a month with this training.'
Fujin dispelled his clones and received their memories. A look of surprise appeared on his face. He thought, 'That's weird. None of my clones could think of a good AoE Vacuum jutsus…'
He began walking home while analyzing, 'The only decent idea they came up with was using several vacuum jutsus while using the Infinite Breakthrough jutsu at the same time. It would affect a wide range. But it isn't the same.
It is merely spamming the normal Vacuum jutsus. Though it would appear as a similar effect, it won't be the case. Not only will there be a lot of gaps to dodge the attack, but it won't be stronger than my normal Vacuum attacks either. I need to think of something better.'
Fujin freshened up and had dinner before calling it a day. Lying in his bed, Fujin wondered, 'Now, what to do about Danzo?'
He stayed quiet for some time while recalling all the information he could about Danzo. He analyzed, 'From what I remember, Danzo stayed inactive since the Uchiha's massacre until he put Sai on Naruto's squad. He didn't make a move during Konoha Crush or for the 5th Hokage, either.
While I can understand the former considering his actions during Pain's assault, the latter is very suspicious. Why didn't he try and claim the 5th Hokage's spot after Hiruzen died to his own student?'
Fujin analyzed for a while before concluding, 'The only reason I can think of is the fame and reputation of Jiraiya and Tsunade. Perhaps, even if he tried, the other council members would push for Jiraiya to take the seat. After all, in terms of fame and reputation, Jiraiya is in a whole different league than Kakashi.
Even if he tried using Shisui's eye to influence the Daimyo, everyone would become very suspicious of such a decision. So his secrets would be out and would be far more detrimental for him in the long run.
Wait, now that I think about it, the Hokage's appointment needs a vote from Jounins. Without a crisis created by Akatsuki and an opportunity to create and lead a Shinobi alliance, he wouldn't be able to become the Hokage. No wonder he didn't fight for it.
But, since he is making a move now, there might have been a change I'm not aware of, or perhaps my existence is tempting him to make a move. Either way, he has the potential to create a lot of mess.'
Fujin was unaware of the fact that Hiruzen allowed Danzo to recruit talented orphans from the Land of Water into the Root. Though the Root was merely in the beginning stages of recruiting and the recruits didn't add any immediate power to the Root, it increased Danzo's hope. It also gave him an opportunity to exert some political influence in Konoha again.
Fujin analyzed, 'If Danzo begins interfering, then he has the ability to change the future events. If he does that, I will lose a lot of my advantage needlessly. Though he won't be able to affect Akatsuki's operations much, he could alter the future by interfering in Konoha's politics or worse, by interfering with Naruto and Sasuke. What to do?'
Fujin kept lying in his bed while thinking about the insane amount of complications that would occur if someone like Danzo began acting in a different manner than what he remembered.
After a long while, he let out a sigh and decided, 'The best case scenario will be if he doesn't interfere beyond a certain limit. But if he does, then I might need to interfere. Though killing him will be difficult and raise too many questions, I can cut off his arms by eliminating the few loyal Root ninjas he has one by one.
Without them, his ability to act will be severely restricted. And though Hiruzen has a soft spot, I doubt he'll give Danzo additional forces. He isn't that naive. But, I can't use Wind Release. Even though I can remove the traces, Hiruzen and Eagle have too much information about me. They will become suspicious and begin keeping tabs on me. Fortunately, I still have a hidden card…'
Lightning sparks appeared on Fujin's body before disappearing. Though Fujin's Lightning jutsus weren't as broken as his Wind jutsus, they were still strong enough to take on a Jounin. More importantly, they were backed by his fearsome speed and strength. Normal Jounin-level Root ninjas wouldn't stand a chance against him.
Fujin analyzed, 'No one is aware of my skill in Lightning Release. To avoid any suspicions, I didn't visit the Lightning Training Rooms. If I kill some Root ninjas using Lightning Release, Danzo will suspect Kakashi. Since Kakashi wouldn't do something so drastic by his own will, he will suspect Hiruzen. If a conflict between the two happens, then that'll be for the best outcome.'
Fujin yawned and muttered, "Enough planning for today. I'll have to wait to see what he does first."
He closed his eyes and fell asleep within a minute. The training had drained him entirely!
From the next day, Fujin followed this routine. He trained with the new training plan early in the morning. He would follow it up with a 3-hour-long Taijutsu spar with Guy. After lunch, he would experiment with the ideas he had for an AoE Vacuum jutsu.
This continued for 5 more days until Guy said, "The power of youth overflows in you, Fujin! Unfortunately, I have to take a mission tomorrow."
Fujin nodded and said, "Good luck, Guy. Let me know when you return. I am usually in Training Ground 23 or the large house next to it."
Guy gave Fujin a thumbs up and said, "Definitely!"
Fujin took his leave. Guy's trademark smile faded away as Fujin left. He thought, 'Suzuki Fujin… I never thought that someone so talented in Ninjutsu would be willing to undergo such a training regime for 6 days straight. His Taijutsu is already better than Kakashi's if he doesn't use the Sharingan.'
His grin returned as he exclaimed, "A junior is pushing himself so much! I need to increase my training even more. Before I leave, I will do a week's training in only a day!"
He immediately dropped down and began doing pushups at such a speed that his body looked blurry and left several afterimages!
Fujin didn't bother Guy anymore. He had another issue to take care of. While eating in Ichiraku, his mind was occupied by the issue he was being troubled with. He thought, 'It's almost been a week since I started. But I still haven't had any success in creating an AoE Vacuum Jutsu.
Though I could create the idea I had, its effect was much lower than what I wanted. I won't be able to pierce a Sussano with this method. Unfortunately, I don't have any other good ideas.
Creating a large enough Vacuum Core for an AoE attack is not possible. Perhaps spamming Vacuum Cannon might be the only way to replicate Danzo's success against the Sussano. I wonder how he does it.'
Unfortunately, no matter how hard Fujin thought, he couldn't come up with a decent idea. It came as a surprise to him considering how quickly he could create the other Vacuum jutsus.
The next day, after consuming the soldier pill, Fujin decided, 'There is no point in wasting a lot of time trying to figure this out. With Vacuum Gatling, Vacuum Blade and Vacuum Slash, that Iwa army will be helpless against me.
So I don't need to worry much about this. I will begin working on taking my Wind Release to the next level. Hopefully, I'll find some inspiration as I work on it.'
